Kabul beauticians struggle and consider migration amid Salon shutdown
A female representative of beauticians in Kabul reveals that women are experiencing severe economic hardships following the shutdown of beauty salons and the ban on beauticians’ work imposed by the interim government. Many are now considering the option of migrating to seek better opportunities.
Raha Hassani, a beautician and one of the female representatives of beauticians in Kabul, told the Khaama Press News Agency that after the order to close the doors of beauty salons, women face numerous challenges, including financial difficulties, security concerns, and migration issues.
Raha, who has moved her salon equipment to her home, says that working with clients at home has exposed them to security challenges.
She adds, “I’ve relocated my salon to my home. We have to find a way to earn a living for our children, but the problem is that accommodating clients at home is difficult, and we face security threats.”
Ms. Raha continues to explain that more than 3,000 active female beauticians in Kabul City are now grappling with economic difficulties and considering migration.
Raha Hassani points out a woman forced to sell makeup products due to financial challenges.
She continued, “One of our colleagues had taken a loan of over two thousand dollars a few months ago and had set up a beauty salon just before the order to close the salons was issued. Now, she doesn’t know how to repay her loans and has been forced to sell makeup products.”
In July of this year, the Taliban leadership issued an order that shut down all beauty salons in the country, resulting in the loss of jobs for around 60,000 female beauticians.
The United Nations had called on the Taliban administration in response to this action to rescind their order as the closure of women’s beauty salons hurts women’s economic prospects.
The representative of women beauticians in Kabul city says that the interim administration of the Taliban has ostracized them from society and confined them to dark corners of their homes. She adds, “They have cut off our art and livelihood, and they have created a situation where we now feel like immigrants and strangers in our own country.”
One of the primary reasons cited by the Taliban authorities for closing the beauty salons is excessive spending on wedding celebrations. However, female beauticians do not consider this government decision fair or justified.
In the past two years, the Taliban administration has issued approximately 50 restrictive orders regarding women’s lives in Afghanistan, including prohibiting girls’ education and banning women from government and non-governmental offices.
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